


Mortal

by siba



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Stress Relief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 21:02:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6769801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siba/pseuds/siba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I really wish I could tell you this was more than vent-writing due to exams. But it addresses Erwin's mortality and how he is immortal in love. ~600 words of philosophical thoughts and ramblings. Sorry in advance!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mortal

The vast desk was cool beneath a sweaty palm; pale skin stretching over taut tendons, protecting what once were strong bones. Bones about to crack under the pressure of life and death. All it took was a misled squadron, an unexpected titan, hurdles that bore down on the broad shoulders of the Commander. As Atlas held the world, Erwin Smith held the fate of humanity and the freedom of all subsequent generations; but unlike the titan who held the world, Erwin was but a mortal.  
Pressure built. The tension was straining every muscle in his body. He was unraveling, but no tears fell. There was no more left to shed. A left hand clenched, balling into a fist and fighting the grip of reality that threatened to drag the him down. There was no money, no hope, no reason to save a humanity who didn’t want to be. So many had been lost. No matter how hard he clenched his fist, there were always those who slipped through his fingers. The weight of their fate, bore down on the mortal. To the point, where his bones cracked. His joints would ache. 

No one knew the pain of the mortal. 

A flame flickered, casting golden rays over his disintegrating form. Hunched over a desk, bearing the weight of fate. He remained for what seemed to be hours. It wasn’t until the familiar touch of hands was felt on his shoulders, that the Commander was able to feel the pressure subsiding. Slowly, but subsiding.   
“You’re thinking too much.”  
The fist that had let so many lives slip through, finally begins to relax. The tension of his body was quickly replaced with that of an age-long exhaustion; one that would only be cured by sleeping forevermore. If that be the case, Erwin Smith would rather live one hundred lives as the mortal Atlas. Only if it meant that he feel the warm caress of hands by the only other titan he had met inside of the walls. The hands of the only other man who Erwin could trust to bear the burden of fate on his shoulders.   
“Erwin.”  
Levi’s voice was never soft, it was still Levi after all. But it was quiet. He knew the state in which such thinking left his beloved. Levi knew the pain of the mortal, he knew the pain of the man he loved.   
“It’s not your fault.”  
Erwin’s fist once more flattens against the desk before him, feeling the wood beginning to cool his sweating palm and send shivers up his spine. The pressure on his joints was lessening with every second, his bones were no longer cracking under the strain of life and death. Unbeknownst to him, warm tears fell, covering the gaunt cheeks that had been been wound with tension just moments before.   
The pain may have been short-lived and the man known as Erwin Smith was just a mortal, but his love was immortal. His love for a people who had so betrayed him, forcing him to bear the burden heavier than any other; he held up hope for the Corps, for the people within the walls, and for himself. Yet, his love for another mortal was as eternal as any could be, for to be devoted so entirely to another being when death was always imminent, was an eternal commitment he had subjected himself to, knowing fully well the possible consequences.   
Tension flowed off of him like waves, leaving behind what was left of the strong man; now broken and bruised from the weight of it all. But the mortal no longer stood alone. Beside him now was another mortal who understood the weight of the world on his shoulders.   
Mortals, both subjected to life, death and rebirth separately. But together, they would be immortal in their love.


End file.
